Lessons
by CeeSixAychTwelveOhSix
Summary: Harvest Moon is the mama of Rune Factory, so this story goes HERE! Oneshot about the trials and travails of wooing your prospective love interest.


**A/N:** So my mother bought herself a Nintendo DS for Christmas (we are a rather interesting family) and I bought Rune Factory "for her." And now I'm obsessed with that game. Most of it is strategic, which I find rather interesting. As part of the game, your character (named Raguna) has to build relationships with people in the town, and there are six or seven (I forget exactly how many) different girls that you can try to make love you. I, being a nerdy girl, of course want Raguna to marry the town's nerd, Tori. But she doesn't seem to be falling for my charms. Hence, this story.

* * *

The library was a comforting place. It smelt of dust and crinkled pages and leather book covers. There was nothing particularly dangerous about it; occasionally Russell would find a mouse's nest built from chewed-up pages and pieces of thread, but he always took care to move the creature gently to another part of town. Tori looked up to her boss for his gentle and soft-spoken ways. Russell was a rather shy man, used to minding his own business as he took care of his only daughter and kept the library in running order. Tori was another shy person; she only ever felt truly safe within the walls of her work. Let the other townspeople farm and forge weapons and fight monsters in caves! She would stay within the world of her books, a place her peers seldom appreciated.

"Hi, Tori!" A loud and eager voice broke the silence of the morning. Tori jumped, startled, and turned to share a glance with Russell. The man smiled slightly and continued to sort through the orders for new books, leaving his employee to deal with her rambunctious suitor.

Standing in the doorway was Raguna, the young man who lived and worked on Mist's farm. He had only been in town for the month so far, but already the girls were starting to notice him. Whenever Rosetta and Mist visited the library, Tori had to listen them giggle and blush over how strong and brave and handsome Raguna was. Tori herself found him interesting; he had arrived on Mist's farm without any knowledge as to who he was or where he had come from. But she wasn't the sort of girl to fawn over a boy just because he could hold a sword. Indeed, the very thought of violence made her sick. No, the man in her future would have to be intelligent and sweet, inclined towards cerebral pursuits rather than physical exertion.

"Mr. Raguna," Tori greeted hesitantly. "How... how are you today?" She noticed that Raguna's eyes hadn't left hers since she had first glanced at him, and she looked away. Russell had apparently noticed this as well, and was trying to disguise a chuckle as a cough, to no real success. Tori felt her face heat up and knew she was bright red.

"I'm great!" Raguna's smile was broad, matching his energetic tone of voice. The girl winced, wishing he would calm down. He was far too excited for the library's atmosphere. "I got something for you."

Tori met his gaze again, slightly taken aback. "You... got me something?" This was unusual; it wasn't her birthday, nor was it a festival day, as far as she could remember. Perhaps Mayor Godwin had made a new special occasion?

"Yeah!" Raguna declared proudly as he dug in his satchel and brought out a small, shiny object. "I thought you might like it." Tori peered closely and saw that the object was a necklace. A small silver pendant on a delicate chain. Her jaw dropped a small distance. She had seen it at Jean's shop a week ago and remembered that it had been over five thousand gold. All of the girls in town would be jealous to find out that Raguna had bought the pendant for her. As it was, she was a little disappointed. Tori had never been the type of girl to fall for expensive jewelry; she had hoped that maybe Raguna had picked up on that.

"Um... a pendant? That's... it's not really..." Tori stopped as she watched Raguna's face fall. She hadn't meant to hurt his feelings! "Thank you," she amended quickly. "It's very... pretty?"

"Uh... you're welcome," the boy replied lamely. "I'll see you around, Tori." He turned from the girl and walked dejectedly from the library, ignoring Russell's farewell. The girl watched him go, feeling incredibly uncomfortable. She hadn't wanted to make him feel bad. But she really didn't know how she was supposed to react to such a gift; she wasn't interested in him romantically. He was hardly a friend! Besides, he could have given the pendant to any of the other girls in town, and they would have received it happily. Why had he chosen her? Terribly confusing, that boy.

Tori turned back to the bookshelf and caught a glimpse of Russell out of the corner of her eye. He was leaning against the counter with a strange look on his face. "What is it?" she asked timidly.

The older man sighed and shook his head. "You have a lot to learn," he remarked before turning back to his order forms. Tori frowned. Whatever could he mean by that?


End file.
